Sandwiched between the rail, the river, and the freeway, the Bowtie Parcel can seem like an uncomplicated landscape that simply unfolds before its visitors, but it is more than that, as designer Rosten Woo proves with his audio tour of the Bowtie Parcel, unveiled recently.

On the surface, little seems to have changed within the post-industrial site. Clumps of grass, gravel and graffiti still litter the land, interrupted every so often by site-specific installations by local artists. Though it seems nothing more could be said of the land, Woo shows us there is. "There's so much in urban life that you can see, but without any context," explains Woo of his medium.

Woo's first phase began with a set of signage modeled after the familiar ones found in parks. This second phase, which was also possible through an ongoing collaboration between arts organization Clockshop and the California State Parks, who owns the property, and with additional support by Play the LA River and the California State Parks Foundation, follows up that impulse by creating a near invisible, yet more intimate experience of the landscape by using a visitor's ears. "It's designed to make the most sense when you're standing right there and seeing the different vistas," says Woo. [read more]